Euro FX Futures

Market

Euro FX futures and options on futures contracts traded at CME are designed to reflect changes in the U.S. dollar value of the euro. It is not to be confused with the Eurodollar futures contract, which is an interest rate futures product traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Financial institutions, investment managers, corporations and private investors can use euro FX and euro FX cross-rate futures reflect the value of the euro in relation to the British pound, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. Euro FX cross-rate futures contracts are quoted as the counter-currency (i.e. British pound) per euro and are physically delivered at expiration.

History

The Euro officially became into existence in January 1999. It is the official currency of the Eurozone, which consists of 19 of the 28 member states of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. It is officially used by the institutions of the European Union, and is consequently used daily by some 337 million Europeans as of 2015. Currency futures were first created in 1970 at the International Commercial Exchange in New York. But the contracts did not take off due to the Bretton Woods system, which was still in effect. They did so a full two years before the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in 1975, less than one year after the system of fixed exchange rates was abandoned along with the gold standard.

Facts

The euro FX future is a deep and liquid contract that is available in 125,000 euro notional size, in both futures and options. There are also the e-mini EUR/USD and e-mini EUR/USD futures contracts, sized at 62,500 euros and 12,500 euros respectively. The euro and its euro FX futures contract are affected by global events, as well as rising prices of commodities futures products such as crude oil and gold due to their close relationship with the U.S. dollar and USD futures.

Trading

Euro FX futures trade at the CME.

The euro FX contract size is 125,000 euro. Euro FX moves in 1 point or $.0001 per euro increments, which equals $12.50 per contract.

The euro currency futures contract trades six months in the March quarterly cycle: March, June, September and December.

Euro currency futures contracts are quoted in the U.S. dollars per euro, and call for physical delivery at expiration.

E-mini euro futures contract size is 62,500 and trades two months in the March quarterly cycle (March, June, September and December.)

This material has been prepared by a sales or trading employee or agent of RJO Futures and is, or is in the nature of, a solicitation. This material is not a research report prepared by RJO Futures Research Department. By accepting this communication, you agree that you are an experienced user of the futures markets, capable of making independent trading decisions, and agree that you are not, and will not, rely solely on this communication in making trading decisions.